Merry-go-round



Oct. 7, 1924. 1,510,941

-' 'l. W. JONES MERRY-GO ROUND Filed Dec. 29, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct.7 1924.

1,510,941 I. w. JONES MERRY-GO HOUND Filed Dec. 29 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 23 wuzwtoz Z2 attorney Patented Oct. 7, 1924:

* isiaeai rvon w. JONES, or Brier/unseen, ALABAMA.

MEBRY-GO-ROUNZD. I

Application filed December 29, 1923. Serial No. G83,4=23. i

T all whom it may COIYCWLf Be it known that I, Ivon W. J ONES, a citizenof the United States of America, and resident of Birmingham, in thecounty 0 '5 Jefferson and State of Alabama,,have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Merry-Go-Rounds, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a class of roundabouts or merry-go-rounds, ofthe type that are used commercially as amusement devices in parks andpleasure resorts, and has for an object the production of a device ofthis general class which is intended to increase the excitement of theriders, as compare with the result of rides of this kind now in commonuse or known.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to produce a roundabouthaving improved scenic effects as compared with those now known, andimproved pleasure exciting means in order that the occupant or occupantsof a car of the device may have a real thrill, as the car passes over apool or body of water from which a water-fall is flowing and into whichthe carwith the occupants apparently shoots in itstravel, that is tosay, the car with the occupants takes a precipitous descent practicallyvertically, al- 0 though, of course, there is a slight movementforwardly while the car is descending, due to the momentum which the carhas attained. I

It is a furtherobject of this invention to produce a merry-go-roundhaving means for supporting a car while it is traveling aroun an axisand to permit the car to fall after its supporting devices have becomedisengaged one from the other; and it is a further object to providecushioning means whereby when the practical limit of the descenthas-been reached, there will be a cushioning effect to absorb any jar orvibration incident 7 to the arrest of the downward movement of the car.7

It is a further object of this invention to produce cushioning deviceswhich may serve to arrest the descent of the car, the said cushioningdevices having. means whereby the car will be momentarily arrested andthen released intermittently during its descent in order that the saiddescent will be somewhat jerky, although, under certain conditions ofuse, it might be desirable to 'ing parts in the several employ a checkor cushioning device which dld not have 'the jerky action.

It is a further object of this invention to f produce a roundabout ofthe character indicated that will impart an -entirely new impression tooccupants of thecar, as compared with devices now in common use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the inventionconsists --inthe details of construction, and inthe arrangement and combination ofparts to be herein-after more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the inventionin' detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying d drawings forming part of this application wherein likecharacters denote correspondviews, and in which f Figure 1 illustratesaplan view of a erry go-round showing a device embody ing the invention;

Figure 2 illustratesa sectional view thereof;

Figure '3 illustrates a'sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig 2; I I

Figure 4 illustrates "a sectional view on the'line' 4- of Fig. l withparts broken away and other parts omitted;

Figure 5' illustrates a view similar to Fig. 4 except that the parts arein different positions of adjustments; I

Figure 6 illustrates a detail view of 1 a modified car arresting device;and

Figure 7 illustrates a view in elevation of one 'ofthe faces of thearresting device d shown in Fig. 6, showing partsassociated with'i t.

The accompanying illustrate one embodiment of the invention and theinventor does not wish to be limited with respect [to the details,except as they may be specified by the annexed claims,

As illustrated'in the accompanying drawing, the base or framework ortrellis 10 is circular, other configurations. a

A series 'of journalbearings or brackets 11 are located on the frame andjournals of conical rollers 12, having flanges 12*" constituting guides,are rotatably "mounted o5 therein. j

Concentric with the framework just described, a track holding frame 13is supplied by whichthe track is supported in an drawing is intended toalthough obviously it can have inclined position, the lowermost portionor point thereof being preferably in spaced relation to that end of thetrack" having the greatest elevation, and for convenience ofillustration, the lowermost part of the track is indicated by thenumeral 14, whcreasthat" portion of the. track having the greatest,

height is indicated by the numeral 15;

Suitable loading andfiunloading platforms with appropriate approachesand exitswill, of course, be includedas a. part of the structureforconvenifinceoffo-peration, bu-t'the inventor does 1 notiwish-to belimited vwith respect to these features their number,- or. theirarrangement.

Awvheel is mounted n therollers and any suitable mechanism-may beprovided for driving the frame andcausing it;to;rotate on a horizontalplane, r on: an approximately horizontal plane, and; in the presentembodiment of 1 the invent-ion, the wheel has what mightberegarded [as acentral section orhub 16, withflangesi 17 and 18. Radial bracesor spokes19 are pro videdan-d they have; their inner; ends attached to theflanges 171and 18., There is an upper flanged ring 20 to which; theouter ends of the upper braces are connected- ;and a lower ring; 21 towhich the outer' ends of the lower braces are connected. The-ring 21 ispreferably in the nature-of :a channel iron whose lowerflangerides onthe-rollers 12 during the rotation of the frame or wheel. Theiupperringanddower ring are connected by a plurality. of ribs or strips 22which arec-preferab ly-of metal and these, in the present embodiment oftheinvention, are arranged in pairs and, constitute-guides.

An, arm oscillatesbetween themembers of each pair ofguides andthe innerend .of each arm is oscillatably connected to the hub 16,-as by a pivot24 Eachyarm has a bracket 25 on its lower gside in which a roller 26 isjournaled, and thesrolle'r travels on the track to which: reference hasalready been made, the said trackncting as a sup.- port for the arms asthe frame or wheel is rotated.

In the interests'of clearness ofdescription and :to avoid alternativeterms as designating the rotatable iframe or wheeh it will behereafter-referred .to assa wheel-77, since it approaches a wheel in-:-its construction; and is rotatably supported...

A. car. 27' is suspended or. slung from;.z.each arm at its outer endandprefer b y each ear;isgloosely suspended rom-the, in

Each?- 23 cornprises :t we channel; bars other and the cliannel bars areconneetedtb'y a bolt 30 from which the car is suspended.

Cheek piecesiBlr andjz32iare connectec 5 to theschannel bars I re pect vy, and; converge iBFQZIlJOVGu. They areconnected:bya piv t 33 on which apiston rod 34: is oscillatable,

the said piston rod being connected to pisto1r35 that operates in acylinder 36. The'cylinder is provided with trunnions 3'? and 38 that arejournaled in brackets 39 secured in appropriate manner to the lowerseries of spokes 19 It is the purpose of the inventor that the mechanismjust described shall operate as a cushioning device or somewhat in thenature of a dashpot wherein the descent of the piston in the cylindercompresses air. in the bottom. which serves to gradually arrest thedescent of the arm to cushion the fall from the high end of the track tothe plane approximately that of the low end of the track.

It will be apparent that an occupant of a car thatileaves the high endof the track and falls precipitously in an unsupported device will havea sensation .quite different from. those who occupy cars that aretravelingon inclinedtracksin which the car is constantly supported. Toaid in developing the descending sensation and imparting a thrill .tothe ride, the car is caused to travel over. a pool of water-on a relatively high elevation, from which the water escapes in a manner tosimulate a. falls, and it.is the purpose of the. inventor that. the carshall descend or. fall just after the end of the pool has been reachedand that the. car shall: descend practically parallel with the course ofthe water in its descent from. thehigher to the lower level. In thedrawing, the pool is identified by the numeral 40, the partition overwhich the wat8].'.fi'OWS'iIO produce the falls 41, and the lower pool.to which thewater descends is; identified by thenumeral 42. Of coursethe relation of these pools and the fall to the elevated and depressedend of the track may bechanged to suit particular require ments, and thespace available for the creation of the marine scene.

In, themodified device for cushioning the descent of the arm and thecar, the lower spokes l9 oscillatably support guides 4 each of which hasa zigzag channel in its inner face. The armsare arranged in pairs i-nthe present embodiment of the invention, and the channels in the twofaces are compl'ementah In his modificatioin an arm 4.4: has a hanger e5oscillatably connected;to,it and the hanger is provided witlaapin orshaft- 46 on which roller 47 is rotatable, the said roller being of asize which will travel :in the Zigzag chain neland causethe: to descendmore Slowly" than'it would if: the descent were unobstructed. Thismodified arm arresting device would give a somewhat: jarring orvibrating action to the descending; arm and the sensation resulting;from itsuse would be-diiferent from that of the cushioning: device showninFigs. t-and i From an inspection of the drawing and i from "theforegoing ured.

description, it will apit a wheel isproperly' driven or rotated, it willcarry the cars around the track, and" that when the' end of the track isreached the car will 'fall, although its descent will'be controlledin'or'der that the occupants of 'thecar will not be in- It isdesirable,:of' course, that the be' allowed to descend to a parent thatcar should not greater extent on the arms't'o 'register with the uppersurface of the lower end of the track, for it is the intention oftheinventor that after vstantially circular with-a gap therein wherethedescent, the arms shall be immediately supported again by the track in"order that the cars may be elevated as the wheelrotates.

Figs. 4 and 5 provides for arrest-ing the piston or the descent of thearm by the action of air, it is understood that the inventorcontemplates that spring cushioning means could be substituted as anequivalent mechanical device for accomplishing the same result as thatcontemplated by the use of the pneumatic device.

I claim:

1. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car carryingmeans adapted to be supported by the track and with relation to whichtrack the said means travels, means adapted to be driven carrying thesaid first mentioned means with relation to the track, the said trackhaving a gap where the said car carrying means is unsupported and intowhich gap the car carrying means descends precipitously, and means forarresting the car carrying means in its descent.

2. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car supportingelement for traveling in engagement with the track whereby the saidelement is supported, means ror moving the said element around thetrack, the said track having a gap where the element is unsupported andinto which gap the element descends precipitously, and means forarresting and cushioning the car carrying element in its descent.

3. In a roundabout, a track arranged substantially circular with a gaptherein whereby two ends of the track are present, means for supportingthe track on an incline whereby one end is materially higher than theother end, a car carrying element including means supported by thetrack, means for driving the car carrying element around the track untilit runs from the high end of the track and from which it falls, andmeans for cushioning the fall of the said car carrying element in itsdescent.

4. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car carryingmeans adapted to be supported by the track and with relathan will permitthe rollers While the cushion device as shown in thetrack, the saidtraclchaving a gap where the said car carrying mean-s is'unsupportedandinto which gap; the car carryingineans descends precipitously, meansfor arresting the car carrying means in its descent, anda water-fallhaving its course of descent at the gapfin the track in a position backof the course traveled by the 'carbarr'ying means in'its descent. v

' 5. In a roundabout, a track arranged subby two ends of the track arepresent, means 't'or supporting the track on an incline whereby oneendis materially higher than the "other end, a' car carrying'element'including means supported by the track, means for driving thecar carrying element around the track until it runs from the high end ofthe track and from which it falls, means for cushioning the fall of thesaid car carrying element in its descent, and a water-fall having itscourse of descent at the gap in the track in a position back of thecourse traveled by the car carrying means in its descent.

6. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car carryingmeans adapted to be supported by the track and with relation to whichtrack the said means travels, means adapted to be driven carrying thesaid first mentioned means with relation to the track, the said trackhaving a gap where the said car carrying means is unsupported and intowhich gap the car carrying means descends precipitously, means forarresting the car carrying means in its descent, a simulated pool at thehigh end of the track and a simulated water-fall therefrom past whichthe car carrying means and the car descend when it leaves the track.

7. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car carryingmeans adapted to be supported by the track and with relation to whichtrack the said means travels, means adapted to be driven carrying thesaid first mentioned means with relation to the track, the said trackhaving a gap where the said car carrying means is unsupported and intowhich gap the car carrying means descends precipitously, and awater-fall having its course of descent at the gap in the track in aposition back of the course traveled by the car carrying means in itsdescent. I

8. A roundabout having a substantially circular track, a car carryingmeans adapted to be supported by the track and with relation to whichtrack the said means travels, means adapted to be driven carrying thesaid first mentioned means withirelation to the track, the said trackhaving a gap where the said car carrying means is unsupported and intowhich gap the car carrying; means; descends precipitously, a-

the ear carrying meanscarriesthe car and, approximately parallel withthe course of theWater-fall the car carrying, means descendsprecipitously.

9.- A roundabout comprising a. rotatably mounted frame, arms extending"radially therefrom and pivoted to the frameforlvertical movement, atrack-substantially concentric with the periphery of the frame, saidtrackbeing; supported on an incline with a :gapbetween the highest andlowest portionsof thetraclgflrotatahlei devices; on the arms supported(by the track,- ears-suspended from. the arn 1s,, and; means, forcushioning thedeseent of,.-'tl1'e arms when the said arm supporting;device leayesthe track.

10. Aroundabout:comprising a rotatably mounted frame, arms, extendingradially therefrom andnpiyotedito theframefor vertical mo em'en-t, a"track -substantially concentricwith. the periphery. of the frame,saidztraek; being supported on an incline With a gapi'betweenthehighestand lowest portions 5 of v' the: track,- rotatable devices. ontherarmscwsupported:hy thetrack, cars suspendedfromthearmS, and meansfor cushioning, the descent of the arms W11 en unsupported. by, thetrackv and for maintaining them in position to be engag eclvby the lowend of the track as the frame rotates IVOB W; JONES.

